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Restaurant Review: TJ’s Brew Works, Pune

Ambience: The bold orange has taken a step back, and fresh grey and green is the colour of the newly refurbished TJ’s. The inside bar has been converted into a pizza counter for the newly introduced Nudo Pizzas and the exterior dining zone has increased in size. The overall feel of the place is comfortable and cosy.

What we ate and drank: Currently, I am totally into the soup and salad meal frenzy (too much research for health-based articles can make one that way). But for someone who loves all things junk, it is hard to not opt for those cheesy, fried dishes that are making even your mouth water as you read. The guilt that comes with eating these dishes when on a diet is tremendous though, and doesn’t let you truly enjoy your meal. Girish Monie understood this and has come up with a menu with Chef Ubaid that you can just completely dig into without giving a thought to the diet, as you won’t be deviating from it at all!

With TJ’s having its own brewery, the craft beers by India’s only woman Brewster Ashwini Rajgopal have been appreciated from the beginning of the brewery restaurant. The newly introduced quinoa and buckwheat beers though, are a wonderful addition to their already well-known repertoire. They even make a ‘non-beer’ person like me want to have a little more than a taster! An ingredient they have introduced into the meals, Monie’s brainchild this, is to use the remains of the beer brewing called ‘spent’, which is high in protein and other nutrients and low on carbs. Its use in different breads doesn’t hinder the taste - in fact, it makes it more flavourful and healthy!

We started with cream of coconut and broccoli with spent knots. It had a nice fresh flavour and was light in texture. A perfect healthy soup, this. The roasted beetroot salad with citrus vinaigrette was perfect for the light, balanced start that we had for the meal. The creamy cheese dollop on top of the beetroot tower balanced the overall flavour of the salad very well. Then we came to the appetisers. Three of the four had spent used in them. If not told, I actually wouldn’t have realised while asking for the recipe, as they were oh-so-tasty. Bruscetta on Spent Focaccia, Spent-Crusted Jalapeno and Cheese Poppers and Spent Crusted Onion Rings… the perfect finger food to go with beers! The Dark Malt Bao with Chilli Tofu was also perfect appetiser, though very filling.

Post these, came the turn of the pizza. They have a menu of pre-decided flavours and crusts, or you can make your own by choosing from their four crusts: quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth with water chestnut, almond, and cauliflower with whey protein. Choose your toppings from their assortment of healthy options which also include a vegan cheese made from cashewnuts. I got to taste the buckwheat crust and the amaranth with water chestnut crusts with assorted toppings. I actually did not miss the regular pizza as you might think one would. We then had Vegan Cheese Spent Ravioli with Marinara sauce. Tasty as ever, I would have surely dug into this one with gusto if I wasn’t full already! The Veg Cottage Cheese Burger on Spent Bun is an uber-healthy alternative to the cheesy oily burgers we would normally opt for. The desserts were also just as interesting and yum. The Caramalt Cookie Sandwich was a cookie made from caramalt – an ingredient normally used for brewing crafted beers, and is served with two of these cookies sandwiching a dollop of vanilla ice cream. The other was the Chocolate Pave. Mmm-hmmm… I was supposed to share this with my fellow table-mates, but it was just so tasty, I didn’t even realise when I cleaned off the plate! And to think I don’t have to worry about the calories as it was both sugar and gluten-free! What else can a chocolate lover who’s on a diet ask for?